he same for all denominations and, as we have already
stated, is a very handsome one. The stamps are of extra large size and
show two portraits of Queen Victoria. That on the left, with the date
"1837" below it, is identical with the portrait shown on the old 12d and
7-1/2d stamps, while the one on the right, with date "1897" below, is
from a full length portrait painted in 1886 by Professor von Angelo of
Vienna. This shows the Queen in her robes of state as she appeared on
the assumption of the title "Empress of India." Above the portraits is
CANADA POSTAGE and between these words is the so-called Tudor Crown of
Great Britain with the letters "V. R. I." below--these latter, of
course, standing for Victoria Regina Imperatrix, (Victoria, Queen and
Empress). At the base the value is shown on a straight tablet and in the
angles, and between the two dates, are maple leaf ornaments. These
Jubilee stamps were printed by the American Bank Note Company, who had
recently secured the contract for the printing of stamps, bank notes,
etc., for the Dominion. In the _Montreal Herald_ for January, 1897, the
following particulars are given with regard to the change of printers:--

The contract for the Government engraving, for which tenders were
called two months ago, has been awarded to the American Bank Note
Company, of New York, for a period of five and a quarter years. The
contract is worth $600,000, and may be renewed for a similar
period. The work consists of engraving the Dominion bank notes,
revenue and postage stamps, postal cards, etc. At present the
British American Bank Note Company, better known as Burland and
Company, formerly of Montreal, have the contract. They tendered
this time, but the New York company was the lowest. The New York
company is one of the largest and best known in the world. The firm
engraves notes for some of the banks in Canada, including the
Canadian Bank of Commerce. Under the terms of the new contract, the
Company will require to establish a place in Ottawa to do the work,
where the Government can have supervision of it. As compared with
the prices paid under the Burland contract, the Government will
effect a saving of $120,000 by the new contract.

The stamps were, like all Canadian stamps, produced by the line-engraved
process, the values from 1/2c to 5c inclusive being printed in sheets of
100 in ten horizontal rows